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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Tifton, Georgia » Southeast Watershed Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #412453
Research Project: Shifting the Balance of Water Resources and Interacting Agroecosystem Services Toward Sustainable Outcomes in Watersheds of the Southern Coastal Plain

Location: Southeast Watershed Research

Title: Irrigation pond water storage and nutrient variability using field and remotely sensed data

Author
item Coffin, Alisa
item ALBRIGHT, ANDREA - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
item Pisani, Oliva
item Bosch, David - Dave
item Strickland, Timothy - Tim

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/30/2024
Publication Date: 7/21/2024
Citation: Coffin, A.W., Albright, A., Pisani, O., Bosch, D.D., Strickland, T.C. 2024. Irrigation pond water storage and nutrient variability using field and remotely sensed data. Meeting Abstract. Abstract.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Farm ponds are an ubiquitous feature of many agricultural landscapes due to their use for crop irrigation. And at the same time, most small water bodies have been ignored as reservoirs of water storage, carbon sources and sinks, despite their large number in the global landscape. Ponds at first glance are assumed to contain surface water from precipitation and surface runoff, but in this study deep groundwater is being pumped into the pond to maintain a supply of water for irrigation. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) fluctuations in such ponds are currently poorly understood, and water quality measurements were taken throughout 2022 to quantify and characterize DOC. Additionally, ponds can be difficult to study using satellite remote sensing due to their small size relative to image resolution, and in this case, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)-mounted optical imagery and photogrammetrically derived products were used to assist in characterizing a farm pond. Together this study presents an integrated analysis of a typical irrigation pond in South Georgia that synthesizes water inputs and withdrawals, a fused topobathy surface to water volume model, and quantifies and characterizes DOC over a typical crop year.